Is it really annoying to be known by your midlde name?

[TooMuchMakkaPakka]

DH and I are considering changing our baby's name (see other thread). I am keen to change but he is not. One compromise position could be to keep her first name intact but add in an extra middle name and then use that when referring to her. But I always thought this gave you problems with doctors surgeries, application forms, passport control and bascially anywhere where your name was written down. There must be people out there who use their middle name. Just annoying is it?

Two members of my family (DUncle and DSis) are known by their second name.

Generally not too much of a problem but occasionally they have problems cashing cheques or with officialdom. Not enough to make either change back to their first names though.

MIL and sister are known by their second names, and haven't heard of any problems. Think they have both names or initials on passports, chequebooks etc. These are second names that they were given at birth and registered with, which may help. However, a colleague has changed both forename and surname and survived the experience!

My family/family friends call me by my middle name... everyone else calls me by my first name.. you soon get used to it...

Yes it is annoying. The main one is making sure that anyone booking flights books them under your first name and not just the middle one (has to match the passport). I also have problems with cheques etc and the whole "Hi X!" "Actually my name is Y" scenario.

Nothing insurmountable though

My db is known by his middle name which is what my parents always wanted to call him, but as it's unusual they gave him my dad's name first so he had an option. He doesn't care - he just gives his full name when form filling and so on. Schools now have a 'known as' box on their entry forms.

My aunty changed her first mane as an adult and then 15 yrs later changed it back - just not officially either time, just told everyone 'my name is now..'!

It's annoyed me enough not to do it to my dd, even though it's a family tradition to be known by your second name. There was a horrified silence from my family when I bucked the trend

It is a total PITA. I have always been known by my middle name. It took us 3 years to find a bank account that would accept cheques made out to me, because people tend to write them out to 'Forename - Surname' but my forename wouldn't match the first initial. So the bank suggested changing my name by deed poll. Eventually we managed to find a bank that could manage it.

At the doctors I am always called through by the wrong name and have to correct them. At interviews the first thing that happens is I have to explain what my name actually is.

It is a total pain, and I wouldn't inflict it on anyone.

Yes it is annoying and I would never inflict it on a child of mine!
As a child, I used to get really irritated by drs and other official places getting my name 'wrong'. Once I turned 18, I basically dropped all use of my first name, except on my passport obviously. This has got more difficult recently as now a lot more official paperwork demands that you use your name as it appears on your passport - so now I have to go as my first name on airline tickets (this has caused problems when people at work have booked my travel and I've forgotten to tell them my first name); and its getting increasingly difficult to get bank accounts etc in my 'proper' name. Plus, it also deprives me of a middle initial which would be quite useful in my line of work!

All because my parents thought that X Y surname sounded better than Y X surname....
[can you tell I'm a bit bitter? ]

My dad uses his middle name - well an abbreviated version of it (by choice).

I made a tit of myself at the Doctors on Monday - took DS3 up there and when they asked the name I gave the abbreviated version that he is always called and they looked at me oddly and said we can't see him on here.........then I realised my mistake and mumbled his proper name at them

It is annoying for me - I probably wouldn't mind so much if I didn't have the same first name as my mother (my parents decided to name me after my mother, and after a couple of weeks realised it was confusing - duh!)

I always feel wierd giving someone elses name at dentists and Drs, but have never had any official problems.

On certificates, etc, I have my name as M Lynette Scavo.

Ah, tortoiseshell, soupdragon, hotcrossbunny - fellow sufferers, I feel your pain!!

DON'T DO IT!!!

I'm known by my middle name and don't mind at all. There are a few bureaucratic problems - like I had 2 sets of records at the hospital - but it's not really a problem.

My dd1 is known by her middle name and hasn't experienced any problems either yet (she is 9).

Dh is known by his middle name. He finds it a nuisance when registering utilities and things like that, and occasionally at work. But I don't think its a daily struggle for him...

don't get me started on bitterness, elliot

Perhaps I'm just unusually attached to my name. My first name just isn't ME, iyswim. I don't even like it very much as a name, whereas I do like my actual name. But then I could never imagine changing my surname either.
I have always felt this way btw. At primary school people would think it very funny when they found out and would like to tell me that ''Y' is your real name then, isn't it'.

PITA and embarrassing having to explain it all the while. PLus had problems with cheques etc in the past, don't get many nowadays though, but my Childminding* registration papers are in one name and then training certs in another and oh it's so confusing for me let alone other people!!
*Disclaimer, my mindees are asleep in case 5candles is lurking

PMSL @ MaryPoppins

at those annoyed by this, my DD goes by her middle name, as does her aunt and grandma, so a bit of a family thing. I asked her aunt if it was annoying and she said no. I'm now mortified that i have inflicted this on my DD (she's only 2 so not aware of this yet!).

It didn't hurt James Paul McCartney!!

Cheques can be a problem - I always have to ask people to write them to M L Scavo.

On a day to day basis it's not annoying, it just crops up as being irritating when you've forgotten to make a point of mentioning it.
Every school year I would have to explain that I wasn't X I was Y for example but I don't have to so that now.
I've never bothered telling my GP I'm actually Y although I did put "known as" on my birth plan for each of the 3 SmallDragons.
you get round it. At interviews I never bother putting them right about the name, just do that if I get the job.

Of course it doesn't help that the middle name my parents decided to use rhymed with my surname. WTF were they thinking?! [bitter]

Yes, 99% of the time its fine. But really, why bother with the added hassle? Its just unnecessary.

Knew someone called Chris who married a friend of mine. Went to the wedding to discover all his family called him Mark and all his friends called him Chris. We were treated to a rather bizarre set of speeches where my friend had - apparently- married two men, Chris and Mark!

He had been christened Christopher Mark but the family always intended him to be Mark. He just got fed up with explaining this once he started school so became Christopher / Chris to all but his family.
They divorced.

There you are you see - all sorts of unnecessary confusions

dh has always been known by his second name. it's never been an issue and although the odd cheque has been made out to his second name and not his first name the banks have never questioned it.